It is just a way to give something back to people who would donate anyway.
Now they need to donate monthly or yearly…
The plus features are designed to be bypassable with minimal effort if you don’t want to pay for it.
Same for Photoprism, just build it yourself 🙄
The extra features are not important to use the app as usual.
Not at the moment. I am very sceptical. Same for Kavita. Time will show where the journey goes.
Could you clarify your specific issue then?
We dedicate our free time to improving and maintaining this software. While yes, we encourage monthly donations, to have some MRR to calculate with and run a business, it’s still optional.
As you say, if you can’t donate, you can still self-compile.
Is your issue with us seeking financial support of 5€ a month to maintain servers and justify our time investment towards our families?
We’re a small indie team of two balancing multiple jobs, and a small monthly contribution helps sustain our efforts in delivering quality features for our free software.
Honestly, go bash some triple a enterprise studios for running loot boxes and shit even though you pay 70€ for their games instead.
I just hate subscriptions. Does not matter if it is Netflix or Spotify or any similar business. It is getting a real problem. Here 5 euros for a calendar, there 10 for videos, another 5 for XYZ… In the end you are paying more and more for daily usage
Those triple A studios get the same treatment with not buying / using their product. Microtransactions are a pain too, yes.
I understand your perspective, but that’s just how the world is today as you can see.
Our terms are flexible, allowing you to pause or cancel your subscription whenever necessary. It’s not like some shady lock-in gym contract that has to run for x months before you can cancel and auto-renews without your consent.
While I acknowledge that recurring costs can add up, this model is essential for sustainable business operations today. Predictable monthly revenue is crucial for planning and growth. Just subscribe to things you need, like or want to support and unsubscribe from things you dont need. For most of our users and compared to other services, our pricing is affordable, with 5€ being easily manageable on a monthly basis, or 50€ annually if you want to save 10€.
Oh and again… noone forces you to buy this. And you can bypass it if you want to. They’re just goodies. The core features of GameVault and everything you’ve used up until today will always remain free.
